Manager, Connected Service

ABOUT US

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners.

WEAVE: THE SOCIAL FABRIC PROJECT

Weave: The Social Fabric Project was founded by author and journalist David Brooks and is housed at the Aspen Institute. Weave supports individuals who are actively fostering trust, connection, and belonging in their communities—people we call “Weavers.” Acting as a backbone organization, Weave empowers these grassroots trust-brokers through resources, storytelling, and initiatives like the Weaver Awards, amplifying their efforts to heal societal divides and strengthen the social fabric.

At its core, Weave addresses the critical issue of broken social trust that has left Americans divided, isolated, and unable to tackle shared challenges. Without trust, we cannot achieve individual happiness and equity, build resilient communities, or sustain a healthy democracy. By identifying and supporting those quietly working to reconnect America’s communities, Weave is helping to bridge divides and create a more unified, compassionate society.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute is seeking a dynamic, relationship-driven Manager, Connected Service. This role will lead multiple workstreams related to Connected Service, an approach to volunteering and service that prioritizes relationship-building along with task completion. Connected Service opportunities are designed to combat social isolation, build mutual trust, and foster a deep sense of community belonging while services are delivered.

At a minimum, the Manager will lead two Connected Service workstreams:

1) The Social Prescription Initiative. This newly launched project is a collaboration between Weave and the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine and Society (HMS) Program and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) healthcare teams. The project will demonstrate the value of Connected Service in combatting social isolation for older adults by engaging participants who screen high for social isolation and loneliness in targeted volunteer opportunities that prioritize social connection. Participating healthcare providers will issue a social isolation screening on patients age 65+ and refer socially isolated patients to local volunteer opportunities designed as Connected Service opportunities. The initiative will be launched in Louisville, KY and Miami-Dade, FL and will include an ecosystem of healthcare systems and providers, Community Health Workers and community organizations. The initiative requires significant cross-functional collaboration and rigorous data collection. The program framework will be designed by the time the Manager is hired; the Manager will use the framework to build out the program in collaboration with our partners.

2) The Connected Service Network. Through a partnership with the nation’s leading volunteer management software company, Better Impact, Weave will provide an online portal to Connected Service opportunities in communities across the country, providing easy access, registration and support for individuals interested in forging stronger local relationships through service and volunteering. The Manager will manage the Better Impact relationship and work products, which include quarterly online convenings of the social connection sector to report out on recent findings and data that will be collected to validate the impact of Connected Service.

This role reports directly to the Managing Director. The salary range for this position is $98,000 - $105,000. In accordance with our Reimagining Work policy, the Manager should be willing to be in-person out of the Washington, D.C. office with colleagues a minimum of 40% of the time while having the flexibility to work remotely for the balance.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Social Prescription Initiative

• Cross-Functional Program Leadership: Serve as program leader, coordinating day-to-day collaboration across key partners (Weave, HMS and JHU). Translate the overarching program framework into operational execution, ensuring compliance, seamless partner alignment, and high-impact deliverables.
• Community Partner Recruitment and Onboarding: Recruit, vet, and onboard 15–20 community-based organizations in each pilot market (Louisville, KY and Miami-Dade, FL). Lead participating teams through Weave’s specialized Connected Service training curriculum.
• Technical Assistance and Implementation Coaching: Provide ongoing coaching to community organization staff in both geographic markets, facilitate local peer-learning cohorts, and offer hands-on troubleshooting for referral pathways, participant journeys, and volunteer retention strategies.
• Data and Evaluation Oversight: Partner directly with HMS and JHU to manage multi-wave data collection (baseline, 3-, 6-, and 12-month intervals), tracking key success metrics, participant uptake, and volunteer retention.
• Storytelling and Narrative Support: Collaborate closely with Weave’s communications team to harvest real-world impact stories from patients, clinicians, and community organizations to shift the narrative around Connected Service and health.

Connected Service Network

• Strategic Partnership Management: Oversee Weave’s partnership with Better Impact, guiding a learning-testing-training agenda that tests AI-driven approaches to tagging Connected Service opportunities to expand market share nationwide.
• Platform Operations and Quality Control: Ensure the Connected Service Network portal is technically sound, user-friendly, and functioning effectively for volunteers.
• Sector Convenings and Knowledge Sharing: Co-design and co-facilitate quarterly virtual convenings with Better Impact to report data, research trends, and field insights to leaders across the social connection sector.
• Network Training Expansion: Identify and execute opportunities to integrate Connected Service principles and training into Better Impact’s broader client network of volunteer managers.

Sector Leadership

• Market Expansion Strategy: Identify and evaluate strategic opportunities to scale the adoption and implementation of Connected Service frameworks in new markets and sectors.
• Cross-Sector Data Sharing: Develop pathways to synthesize and share Connected Service findings with partners across volunteer management, bridging and belonging, research, public health and philanthropy.
• Thought Leadership: Represent Weave as a domain expert and public spokesperson in national forums, conferences, and webinars focused on social connection, civic engagement, and service/volunteerism.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO THRIVE

Required Qualifications

• Experience: 5+ years of progressive project or program management experience, preferably within a national non-profit, community health, civic engagement, or social-impact organization
• Operational Excellence: Demonstrated ability to translate high-level program design frameworks into actionable operational plans, multi-site workflows, and complex project timelines
• Systems Mindset: Demonstrated ability to view programs holistically—understanding how workflows, community partner capacity, data pipelines, and end-user experiences intersect
• Data and Evaluation Literacy: Familiarity with program evaluation methodologies, quantitative/qualitative data collection protocols, and working alongside research/evaluation teams
• Tech Proficiency: Hands-on experience with project management software (Asana preferred), client/volunteer databases, Microsoft Office Suite, and Google Workspace
• Travel: Willingness and ability to travel up to 15% for site visits, partner convenings, and stakeholder meetings in target markets

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in volunteer management.
• Background in training, cohort facilitation or delivering technical assistance to non-profit staff.
• Bilingual capability (English/Spanish).

Core Competencies

• Mission Alignment: Deep commitment to Weave’s mission of weaving social fabric and restoring social trust.
• Empathy and Relationship-First Orientation: Ability to lead with warmth, active listening, and inclusivity when engaging partners.
• Adaptive Problem-Solving: Comfort navigating ambiguity, refining processes in real-time, and troubleshooting implementation challenges collaboratively.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Aspen Institute offers a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, and prescription benefits, retirement benefits, and paid leave.

The Aspen Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all District and federal laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or protected veteran or disabled status and will not be discriminated against.

The Aspen Institute welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs, including the interview process. If you would like to request accommodations or have questions about accessibility, please email hrsupport@aspeninstitute.org or call 202-736-2127 in advance of your visit. Requests for ASL or CART services should be made at least two weeks in advance when possible. We will make every effort to fulfill requests, subject to availability.